The Dance Program 2012 Poster Art Contest!

POSTER ART CONTEST – DEADLINE APRIL 2, 2012

The Dance Program is holding its second annual POSTER ART CONTEST. We are once again seeking visual representations of material relevant to Dance Program’s philosophy of “global embodied social change”. The question we ask is: How does dance bridge cultural barriers, contexts, and disciplines?
One design will be chosen as the poster for the Student Dance Concert (April 27 and 28, 2012 at 8PM in the LPAC Pearson Hall Theater) and will receive a small award. The concert will feature African, ballet, flamenco, modern, swing and tap and the poster image should reflect the diversity of the concert as well as provide information for advertising (where, when, contact info, etc.). Details about the informational text needed on the poster are available outside the Dance office (LPAC 4).

Size: Finished artwork should be 11” x 17”. Please use RGB, 300dpi if you send a digital image. Emailed images should be less than 8MB compressed (JPG or PDF or Photoshop format) or you can drop off a final printed image or a CD/DVD of your artwork in LPAC 4 to Tara Webb, Arts Administrator for Theater and Dance (x8260 or twebb1@swarthmore.edu). DEADLINE APRIL 2, 2012.

Parameters: Final image can be a JPG, PDF, or Photoshop project, a digital graphic design, a screen-print, a typographic exploration, a collage, a drawing, a painting, a photo, a photo montage, or any combination of techniques or processes that exist or that you can invent for a printed announcement. (For the sake of authenticity and copyright we’re requesting that all imagery be original or used with proper permission and that imagery does not violate any law or copyright, trademark, publicity or privacy right.)

ALL submitted materials will be considered for future posters and other Dance Program artwork (with the artists’ permissions). We would also like to invite all interested or participating students to sit in on any of our dance classes for inspirational or sketching purposes. For more information about class schedules for observation, please contact Tara Webb (twebb1@swarthmore.edu) at x8260 or Susan Grossi (LPAC 4) x2019.

Master Class with John Jasperse (Monday, February 20, 2012)

John Jasperse, one of the most important dance artists working today, is set to remount his groundbreaking FORT BLOSSOM at Bryn Mawr College this winter.  Jasperse revisits the work, which reveals the body in all its controversial facets. The company will be in residence the week prior to the performances. The schedule of activities is open to the public and includes a symposium with visiting scholars, an open rehearsal and several master classes.  The Swarthmore Master Class will take place on Monday, February 20th, 2012 at 4:30PM in the Troy Dance Lab (see below).  For more details on Jasperse’s presence around Tri-Co: http://www.brynmawr.edu/arts/series.html.

Saturday, 2/18
1 – 6PM
Symposium: “The Contemporary Performance of Sex, Gender and Embodiment”
Bryn Mawr College, Goodhart Hall,
Hepburn Teaching Theater

Monday, 2/20
4:30 – 6PM
Master Class in the LPAC Troy Dance Lab

Tuesday, 2/21
2:15  – 3:45PM
Open Rehearsal with Q&A
Bryn Mawr College, Goodhart Hall,
Hepburn Teaching Theater

Wednesday, 2/22
12:30 – 1:45PM
Visual Culture Colloquium, Jasperse on “Transformations of the Audience/Performer Relationship”
Bryn Mawr College, Thomas Hall 224

Thursday, 2/23
4 – 5:30PM
Master Class at Bryn Mawr College, Pembroke Studio
Email aclarke@brynmawr.edu to reserve your spot

John Jasperse portrait

http://www.johnjasperse.org/

Rennie Harris Puremovement brings hip hop dance to the LPAC!

The Department of Music and Dance  and the William J. Cooper Foundation at Swarthmore College present Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM) on Friday, February 17th at 8:00pm in the Pearson-Hall Theatre, Lang Performing Arts Center (LPAC) at Swarthmore College.

This exciting evening may include performances of Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM)’s unique repertory program and will be an excellent balance of old and new works.  Audiences can look forward to a flirty, infectious romp set to the rhythms of Marvin Gaye and Nina Simone in Something to Do with Love, Volume I and the rhythmic motions of P-Funk, which focuses on the individuality and group dynamics of Harris’ athletic male dancers.  Revel in an early classic from the nineties, Students of the Asphalt Jungle, which reflects and incorporates the energy and influence of African movement, gymnastics, Capoeira and other hallmarks of hip-hop into a riveting dance showcase. This event is free and open to the public without advance reservations.

Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM) was founded in 1992 by North Philadelphia native, Dr. Rennie Harris.  Rennie Harris Puremovement (RHPM) was conceived with the vision for sharing an appreciation for diversity and is dedicated to preserving and disseminating hip-hop culture through workshops, classes, lecture demonstrations, dance residencies, mentoring programs and public performances.  Dr. Harris formed the company on the belief that hip-hop is the most important original expression of a new generation, with the unique ability to express universal themes that extend beyond racial, religious, and economic boundaries. The company’s goal is to provide audiences with a sincere view of the essence and spirit of hip-hop, rather than the commercially exploited stereotypes most often presented by the media.  RHPM continues to flourish beyond its 15th Anniversary Season as they emerge as an international hip-hop dance ambassador and surviving senior member in the world of organized hip-hop dance theater.  In a society where hip-hop is often portrayed as a violent, undisciplined counterculture, RHPM deconstructs popular perception of this medium, expanding and challenging the boundaries and definitions of hip-hop in general. As hip-hop continues to be chosen as the modern generation’s medium of expression, RHPM works to honor its history, explore its ideas, and further its contributions to the surrounding community.

RHPM will be offering a Master Class on Thursday, February 16th at 4:30pm in Troy Dance Lab (LPAC 002) of the Lang Performing Arts Center.  The event is free and open to everyone, but please contact Susan Grossi (sgrossi1@swarthmore.edu) Administrative Assistant for Music and Dance (LPAC 004) at x2019 to reserve a space.

For further information about the performance, contact Tara Webb at lpacevents@swarthmore.edu or call 610-328-8260.

Join us for the Faculty & Friends Dance Concert (February 11, 2012)

The annual Swarthmore College Department of Music & Dance presents the Faculty and Friends concert on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 8PM in the LPAC, Pearson Hall Theater.

This year’s concert Faculty&Friends Posterfeatures both new works and perspectives along with reconstructions of several older pieces.   The performances will include a variety of styles including African, Ballet, Flamenco, and Modern along with showings of two dance videos.   Several pieces will include live collaborations between dancers and musicians.  One dance was commissioned in honor of Chuck Davis’s contributions to the field of African and African-American dance.  Mr. Davis will be in attendance.  The concert, which is appropriate for all ages, is free and open to the public.

Green Chair Dance Group at the Annenberg in February

Green Chair Dance Group, co-directed and performed by Greg Holt ’05, Sarah Gladwin Camp ’05, and Hannah de Keijzer ’06, will show us some secrets with their  gorgeous new work PROJECT CONE at Philadelphia’s Annenberg Center Feb. 3 & 4, 2011.

For tickets:  http://www.annenbergcenter.org/tickets/?id=182

For info about the company: http://www.greenchairdancegroup.com

Dance Lab Showings, Monday December 5th at 5PM

An invitation from the Dance Program of the Department of Music and Dance:
please join Fall 2011’s Dance Lab 1 students for a DANCE LAB SHOWING

an informal presentation of some
culminating movement studies created
and performed by your peers

Monday, December 5th at 5pm
Troy Dance Lab, in Lang Performing Arts Center

featuring choreographic work by
Christina Aruffo
Nicole Cox
Rachel Crane
Rachel Fresques
Natalie Gainer
Jackie Morgen

Jumatatu Poe
Assistant Professor of Dance
Swarthmore College
jpoe1@swarthmore.edu

For more information about upcoming events, find us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Swarthmore-College-Dance-Program/200840063275757

The Fall 2011 Student Dance Concert is here!

The Department of Music and Dance presents the Fall Student Dance Concert on December 2nd and 3rd at 8PM in the LPAC Pearson-Hall Theater.  Join us for an exciting evening of African-Brazilian drum and dance, Kathak, Swing, Tap and Taiko!  Also, check out a special performance with Taiko Repertory and Gamelan Semara Santi on Sunday, December 4th at 3PM in Lang Concert Hall.   Gamelan Semara Santi is the Philadelphia area’s only Gamelan (Indonesian percussion orchestra) devoted entirely to performance of traditional compositions from Bali, Indonesia and includes traditional Balinese dancing. The Gamelan includes bronze-keyed xylophones, suspended gongs, bamboo flutes, and drums.

Window on the Work: Meredith Rainey’s “Waiting Room”

The Swarthmore Project and the Dance Program will present Meredith Rainey’s “Waiting Room” as part of the Window on the Work series on Sunday, November 20th at 7PM in the Lang Performing Arts Center Troy Dance LAB (LPAC 2).  Please join us!
“Waiting Room” is set to the three selections from Franz Schubert’s Schwanengesang and explores the ideas of memory and mortality through the physicality of dance. Mortality is the physical reality all people face with their spirituality, intelligence, but most of all their bodies.

Meredith Rainey is the Carbon Dance Theatre Founder & Artistic Director.  In 1987, he joined the newly formed Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet, remaining with the Pennsylvania Ballet when the collaboration ended as a soloist until his retirement in 2006. He is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships and has been commissioned to create works for Pennsylvania Ballet, Delaware Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, National Ballet De Cali, Ballet X, Danse 4 Nia and institutions such as Drexel University and Bryn Mawr Colleges. His work has been performed in North and South America and throughout Spain.